The present invention relates to a device for loading a cartridge incorporating a rotatable circular disc such as a floppy disc or an optical disc used in a recording/reproducing apparatus for recording/reproducing information on the disc or erasing the recorded information.
A conventional cartridge loading device of this type is typically constructed as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This structure is shown in, for example, Japanese patent unexamined publication No. 108056/1983.
When a cassette 50 is inserted into a cassette receiving body 51 as indicated by arrow V in FIG. 5, the cassette 50 is first brought into contact with a rear wall of the cassette receiving body 51. Subsequently, when the cassette 50 is further inserted, overcoming a component of spring force of tension springs 54 the insertion direction as indicated by arrow X, the cassette receiving body 51 is moved in the cassette insertion direction along guide slots 53a of guide plates 53. Then, the cassette receiving body 51 is moved downwardly by the other component Y of the force of the tension springs 54 directed toward a spindle 57 as indicatd by arrow Y. Thus, the loading operation of the cassette 50 has been completed as shown in FIG. 6a. On the other hand, when the cassette 50 is unloaded, a slide plate 55 is pushed in a direction indicated by arrow W, so that inclined portions 55a of the slide plate 55 come into contact with pins 52 of the cassette receiving body 51 and the guide plates 53 cause the cassette receiving body 51 to move upwardly. As a result, the cassette receiving body 51 is returned back to its original position by the force component X in the cassette insertion direction of the tension springs 54. Thus, the unloading operation of the cassette 50 has been completed as shown in FIG. 6b.
However, in the above-described arrangement, since the guide slots 53a of the guide plates 53 are so constructed that the pins 52 are movable upwardly during loading of the cassette 50 as is apparent from FIG. 6a, the cassette receiving body 51 might be moved upwardly by external factors such as vibrations. In this case, if the disc rotating within the cassette 50 is brought into contact with inner walls of the cassette 50, then the disc is damaged. In order to eliminate the adverse affect of the external factors such as vibrations, it is sufficient to increase the component Y of force of the tension springs 54. However, in this case, an impact force generated upon setting the cassette 50 at a predetermined position is increased corresponding to the increment of the component Y, resulting in generation of large impact noises. In addition, when the disc is continuously used, the cassette 50 would be caused to be damaged.
Also, when the cassette 50 is unloaded, the slide plate 55 is directly pushed irrespective of the rotary state of the disc so that the cassette receiving body 51 is lifted and unloaded by the movement of the slide plate 55. Therefore, when the unloading operation is carried out during the rotation of the disc, the disc is brought into the inner walls of the cassette 50, resulting in the damage of the disc. Also, the inner walls of the cassette 50 are abraded creating abrasion powder which adheres to the disc. The prior art device suffers from such problems. Also, it should be noted that the pins 52 provided on the cassette receiving body 51 are movable upwardly along the guide slots 53a of the guide plates 53 as is apparent from FIG. 6a. Therefore, if the slide plate 55 is strongly pushed overcoming the force components X and Y of the tension springs 54, then the cassette receiving body 51 is abruptly pushed thereby, so that the pins 52 would bounce away from the guide slots 53a by the reaction force thereof. Thus, the prior art device suffers from the fact that the cassette 50 is difficult to unload.